New to the forum and bearded dragons!

[psychgrl]

Hello everyone!

So, I have recently found out that I will be the proud owner of a bearded dragon! Long story short, I got an e-mail from my husband (who is a teacher) the other day asking if I was interested in having a bearded dragon. Apparently he got on e-mail from a student's mom asking if he knew anyone who would want it. I don't know all the details but it is something like they moved and couldn't take it and now it is living at the grandmother's house. It would come with the aquarium, lights, etc. so we decided to go ahead and agree to take it.

I don't know much about it-they are calling it a him though who knows for sure. The mom said that he's on the smaller side for an adult (whatever that means, he's 2.5 years old) but that makes me wonder about what it has been eating and what they meant when they said "lights". Hopefully there's a UVB in there. So, since I have no idea what will be coming to me, I've been doing tons of reading on this site. Not only do I need to learn the basic care but I want to have a better chance of knowing if something is wrong when he gets here. We will be getting him some time next week so I'll post a picture then and get some more expert opinions on him. I'm really excited, though, as they seem like fun. I love how social most of them seem to be!

As far as myself...well, I've had pets of all kinds over the course of my life. Of course there were the typical dogs, cats, fish, hamsters, etc. I have had parakeets and rats. Sadly, I've developed an allergy to small furry things so we then made the switch to reptiles and arachnids. Currently, in addition to two dogs, we have three corn snakes, a crested gecko, two tarantulas, and an emperor scorpion. I was born and raised in the metro Atlanta, GA area but am now living in central Pennsylvania where I work as a career counselor at Penn State (yeah, I know, we're kind of having some issues here right now )

Glad to be here! There seem to be some very knowledgeable people on this forum so I expect to learn a lot. I'm not the best at message boards, though, and tend to get busy and not post for long periods of time. But I'm usually lurking and reading! Haha!

Rebecca

 

[ShannyBeard]

Hi and welcome, Rebecca! Oooh bearded dragons are amazing reptiles. I got my first beardie last June, so I am a relative newbie, too. Well, I have 6 now, but who's counting...??? :lol: :lol: This forum is full of people who have been keeping beardies for years and years, so you won't have any trouble with getting advice when you ask for it. I have learned so much here.

I saw you have an emperor scorpion! I want to have them so badly and I am thinking this summer will be the time for me. I held one at a ReptiCon last year and I was fascinated with it. I've been researching their proper habitat and I think it is something I would like to have. :mrgreen:

I saw you work at Penn State, yeah they are for sure having some internal difficulties, but people know it is not a reflection of every single person who works there. My Dad is from Uniontown, PA and it's hard to catch him without one of his Nittany Lions t-shirts on.

You mentioned UVB lighting, and one thing that not everyone is aware of is that they don't put out the proper UVB as they age, and they need to be replaced every 6 months. Hopefully they have a tube fixture for you and you can just go out and get a new Repti-Sun 10.0 straight off. Especially if theirs is greater than 6 months old. We are in the 'time to change UVs right now..' mode. :| It's always something....anyhow welcome. :mrgreen:

 

[psychgrl]

Hi, ShannyBeard, and thanks for the welcome! Haha, so it looks like bearded dragons tend to be a bit addictive! I keep saying that this guy will be it for now since we have so many other pets but who knows. I'll be traveling to Atlanta over the summer-during the dates of the ReptiCon down there. I was planning to go just for fun but I don't know...might be dangerous! :lol:

You know, I have to admit that the emperor scorpion is way cooler than I thought it would be. I'm pretty much able to handle most animals/insects/arachnids, etc. but the scorpion was pushing my tolerance of creepiness a bit at first. Honestly, he/she's a blast! It burrows most of the day but has started coming out more when we're up and around, which is fun because it likes to take baths in the water dish! My husband LOVES feeding it because he finds it pretty amazing that the scorpion can shove half a cricket into its mouth at once! I hope you do get one this summer, I think you'll really enjoy it!

Cool that your dad is from Uniontown-small world! Penn State will move past this and, as you said, people understand that these problems are not a reflection on the students or employees. Working in career services, though, we heard stories of kids losing internships and stuff when this first happened. Fortunately those incidents were very isolated and don't seem to be happening now. Though I grew up in the south, my family is from PA so I had a constant supply of Nittany Lion shirts! I guess I became a fan through default-kind of funny I now work here!

Thanks for the heads-up on the UVB lights. I went to our local Petco this weekend just to stake out supplies and they have Repti-Sun 10.0's in stock. We've been holding off on getting anything just to see what he'll come with but I think that will be a definite purchase. I think this family has tried to do a good job so all might be fine-we'll see. Either way, I will most likely replace the UVB no matter what.

Thanks again!!

 

[ShannyBeard]

Well, on the subject of bearded dragons being addictive...well, they really ARE. They are each so different. All 6 of ours have different likes and personalities. They are very funny creatures. Also, heck, if you are making salad for one, you may as well make it for 2 or 3...right? You buy the same amount of salad greens...most of the time they go to waste with just one. :lol: :lol: Do you see where my logic can get me into trouble..?

As for Repti-Con Atlanta, my sister lives in Michigan right now and may be working for a company that will send her to some Repti-Cons in Florida and possibly Atlanta. I hope my husband doesn't get on here and read this :shock: :lol: but the thought has crossed my mind to go to the Atlanta one. It's only 5 hours away. Granted, it is only a teensy little thought in my head and may not happen, but as it gets closer and you are going, maybe I'll see you there. Lots of things have to work in my favor for that to happen. I guess the chance is slim. I'll be at a few Repti-Cons here in Florida, though.

That's where I got to hold the scorpion! I was looking in a bin of them with some random young boy and the guy asked if I wanted to hold one. :shock: I'm not someone to just refuse things out of sheer terror :lol: especially with a young boy standing next to me. That would be shameful. So I held it and it was pretty much hands-down the coolest thing ever. I want to make a really creative viv for them and have multiple scorps in there. Not just a regular viv, but something really cool. I found a killer website http://www.emperorscorpion.co.uk/ and I learned a lot about them. My husband taught me to thoroughly research any animal before getting it, so it can't be an impulse buy, so I need to know what I am getting into. You should check out that website. The guy that made it really seems to love scorps.

Good luck with your dragon! I am glad you have some faith that the person you are getting him from has tried to do well by it. Hopefully he will have a seamless transition to your home and be a great addition to your family! (OOPS I almost wrote 'great addiction to your family' HAHAHA)

Shannon

 

[psychgrl]

I'm cracking up here because you have the exact thought process that I do! You're already buying supplies, what's one more? That's how we ended up with another tarantula and a scorpion-you can't go buy just one or two crickets at a time (well, you COULD, I guess) but usually our Petco has pre-filled bags of 6 or more. Can't let them go to waste! Very dangerous mentality at a show!

Your Repticon story cracked me up! Random little boy peer pressure! I'm glad it helped you take a chance and play with the scorpion. Admittedly, I still haven't held ours but maybe soon. I checked out that site and it is really good, thanks for sharing! I've always wanted to make really creative vivs for my animals and haven't done it yet. Maybe the new beardie will get me going on that! Can't wait to see yours if you end up doing a scorpion one!

Well, we're supposed to get the new guy tomorrow. When my husband was talking with the mom, she at least indicated that the 40 gallon tank should be big enough for an adult (so they did some kind of research) and we'll be getting him in that. I'll probably upgrade but I at least know he'll be okay for now. The little boy did approach my husband and tell him that he's glad the dragon is getting a good home. I don't know all the details but it sounds like there's family stuff and they're doing what they can but caring for a pet is not something they can do properly right now. I guess we'll see-I'm super excited, though!! And, yes, I have a feeling it will be a new family addiction!

Let me know if you end up going to the Atlanta show. I'll probably go just for fun either way!